Auxiliary carrier for portable boxes

ABSTRACT

A pair of corner brackets are removably strapped to spaced corners at the front of the cover of a lunch box of the type having an outwardly projecting surrounding rib where the cover and main body meet, each bracket having the upper end of a Ushaped clip attached thereto whereby an elongated item may be releasably held by the clips in a position close to the body of the lunch box and extending longitudinally thereof below the cover.

United States Patent Graf [54] AUXILIARY CARRIER FOR PORTABLE BOXESEdwin H. Grai, W 187, S6876 Jewel Crest Drive, Muskego, Wis. 53150 Oct.22, 1970 Inventor:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

US. Cl. ..220/85 R, 190/60, 206/4, 224/ Q Int. Cl ..A45r 13/40, Bd 25/00Field of Search 190/42, 52, 60; 206/4, 47 R; 220/18, 23.4, R, 85 H;224/45 Q; 211/89;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 676,310 6/1901 Goldberg..l90/60 523,953 7/1894 Albershardt ..l90/60 51 July 11, 1972 3,233,8562/1966 Ammerman ..248/3l6 D X 3,347,354 10/1967 West 3,035,803 5/ 1962Miller ..248/3 1 3 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 6,512,498 3/1967Netherlands /60 Primary Examiner-Joseph R. Leclair AssistantEmminerSteven E. Lipman Attorney-Morse & Morsell [57] ABSTRACT A pair ofcomer brackets are removably strapped to spaced comers at the front ofthe cover of a lunch box of the type having an outwardly projectingsurrounding rib where the cover and main body meet, each bracket havingthe upper end of a U-shaped clip attached thereto whereby an elongateditem may be releasably held by the clips in a position close to the bodyof the lunch box and extending longitudinally thereof below the cover.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PKTE'N'T'EDJUL n 1912 3.675.814

lllllll:|ll]lllllll|llllll/IITII114 INVENTOR EDWIN H.6RAF

ATTORNEYS AUXILIARY CARRIER FOR PORTABLE BOXES BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to anattachment whereby an elongated item such as a folded newspaper may bereleasably carried on the exterior of a conventional lunch box.

2. Description of the Prior Art Workmen with lunch boxes commonlypurchase newspapers in the morning and carry them to work. It isinconvenient, particularly when traveling on mass transportationfacilities, to carry the lunch box in one hand and the newspaper in theother hand as it leaves no hand free. Also, the user is frequentlycarrying other items such as topcoat, umbrella, or the like, which makesit inconvenient to carry a newspaper separately. In my priorapplication, Ser. No. 65,967, filed Aug. 21, 1970, an auxiliary carrieris disclosed which is suitable for use on one type of lunch box. Anothertype of lunch box is commonly made of plastic and has interfitting,outwardly projecting ribs at the upper edges of the main body and at thelower edges of the cover. This type of lunch box also has a lower bodyportion which is downwardly tapered so that a carrier of the type shownin my co-pending application would not stay in position.

With the above in mind, the purpose of the present invention is toprovide a simple removable auxiliary carrier which permits the user tocarry both the lunch box and newspaper in one hand in a convenientmanner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides spaced, yieldingclips removably strapped to spaced comers of the cover of that type oflunch box which has outwardly projecting, interfitting ribs between theupper edge of the body and the lower edge of the cover, the clips beingpositioned to releasably hold a newspaper or the like close to the bodyportion of the box.

A further object of the invention is to provide an attachment as abovedescribed arranged so that the ribs at the lower edge of the cover serveto hold the attachment against undesired downward movement on the lunchbox.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in combination with alunch box of the type described, an attachment wherein strap meansextending around the lunch box cover is employed to readily connect theattachment to said cover, said strap means being readily removable withthe attachment without unbuckling the strap.

A further object of the invention is to provide an auxiliary carrier inwhich the brackets and clips may be readily formed of sheet metal,plastic, or other low-cost material, thereby providing a device which isinexpensive to manufacture.

A further, more specific, object of the invention is to provide, incombination with a lunch box, clip means at opposite ends of the coverof the lunch box for releasably carrying a newspaper or other elongateditem.

Still further objects of the invention are to provide, in combinationwith a lunch box, a novel attachment for lunch boxes which is easy toinstall and remove, which can be readily carried within the empty lunchbox when not in use, which is durable and long-lasting, and which isotherwise well adapted for its intended purpose.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the accompanying drawing,illustrating one preferred embodiment of the invention, in which thesame reference numerals designate the same parts in all of the views:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a lunch box with the improvedattachment in position thereon;

FIG. 2 is an end view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken approximately on the line 33of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing one of the comer brackets andclips, the ends of the strap being broken away; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a folded newspaper in position inthe clips of the attachment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now more particularlyto the drawing, there is illustrated a lunch box 10 of the type which isusually made of plastic and which conventionally has an external rib 11at the lower margin of the cover which meets and interfits with anexternal rib 12 at the upper margin of the lower body portion. The lowerbody portion includes a generally rectangular bottom 13, front wall 14,a back wall 15, and a pair of end walls 16 and 17. The end walls areapproximately parallel to one another. The front and rear walls 14 and15 converge somewhat downwardly as shown in FIG. 2. The cover 18 hasupwardly converging front and rear walls 19 and 20. The cover is joinedto the back wall of the lower body by hinge means 21. Suitable coactinglatch means 22 are provided on the cover and on the front wall 14 topermit the cover to be readily latched in its closed condition. Anexternal handle 23 is mounted on top of the cover.

The carrier attachment includes left and right hand brackets 24 and 25,each bracket being L-shaped and otherwise shaped to fit around thetapered comers 26 and 27 of the cover 18 of the lunch box. Clips 28 and29, which are U-shaped, have rear legs with upper ends connected to thefront portions of the brackets 24 and 25. The rear legs projectdownwardly to near the bottom of the lunch box and there are upwardlyextending yielding front legs 30 and 31. The clips may be formed ofmetal, plastic, or other durable but relatively inexpensive material.

While the bracket and clip may be integral, particularly if plastic isused, in the preferred embodiment illustrated, the upper end of the rearleg of each clip is connected-to the front of its bracket by upper andlower sets of spacers 32 so as to provide a transverse slot 33 betweenthe upper and lower spacers through which a strap 34 may extend. One endof the strap is equipped with a buckle 35 which may be detachablyengaged by the other end of the strap 36, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, tofasten the carrier around the cover. When in the position of FIGS. 1 and2 the lower edges of the brackets 24 and 25 are supported on the coverribs 11 against downward movement. Due to the taper of the cover asshown in FIG. 2 it is apparent that the attachment may be readilyremoved without unbuckling the strap by merely slipping the strapupwardly on the cover. Ifdesired, an adjustable tie bar section 37 maybe riveted or otherwise secured to the inner leg of the clip 28 toextend longitudinally across the front of the lunch box, and a similartie bar section 38 may project from the clip 29. These tie bars may beprovided with registering slots 39 whereby, upon tightening a bolt 40,the tie bars may be adjustably secured in a desired overlappingcondition depending upon the length of the lunch box. This tie barserves to reinforce the lower portions of the clips.

When the user is going to work the folded newspaper 41 or otherelongated item may be slipped between the front wall 14 of the box andthe yielding clips 30 and 31, as shown in FIG. 5, to extendlongitudinally of the lunch box. A standard newspaper is of justslightly greater length, when folded, than the lunch box. By graspingthe handle 23 of the lunch box the user may carry both the lunch box andnewspaper in one hand, leaving the other hand free.

After he has finished reading the newspaper, if he does not desire totake it home with him, the attachment may be quickly removed from thelunch box and carried home inside of the empty box, or the attachmentmay be used for carrying other items home, such as elongated packages orthe evening paper if it is purchased on the way home.

It is to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exactdetails of construction shown and described, for obvious modificationswill occur to a person skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a lunch box having an upright wall and having amovable cover, said box being of a type wherein its main body has anupper edge rib and wherein the cover has a lower edge rib interfittingwith the rib of the body when the cover is closed, horizontally spacedbrackets supported on said cover in a position where said cover riblimits downward movement, and clips carried by each bracket in aposition to removably support an item adjacent a wall of the box, eachbracket being L-shaped and including a flange fitting around an uprightcorner of the cover, with each bracket being seated on the cover rib.

2. In combination with a lunch box having an upright wall and having amovable cover, said box being of a type wherein its main body has anupper edge rib and wherein the cover has a lower edge rib interfittingwith the rib of the body when the cover is closed, bracket meanssupported on said cover in a position where said cover rib limitsdownward movement, clip means carried by said bracket means in aposition to removably support an item adjacent a wall of the box, andstrap means detachably connecting the bracket means to said cover.

3. In combination with a lunch box having an upright wall and having amovable cover, said box being of a type wherein its main body has anupper edge rib and wherein the cover has a lower edge rib interfittingwith the rib of the body when the cover is closed, horizontally spacedbrackets supported on said cover in a position where said cover riblimits downward movement, and clips carried by each bracket in aposition to removably support an item adjacent a wall of the box, eachbracket having a horizontal slot and there being strap means extendingthrough said slots detachably connecting the brackets to the cover.

4. A combination as claimed in claim 2 in which the cover of the lunchbox is tapered upwardly and in which the strap means fits removably oversaid taper to a position above the cover rib.

5. In combination with a lunch box having an upright wall and having amovable cover, said box being of a type wherein its main body has anupper edge rib and wherein the cover has a lower edge rib interfittingwith the rib of the body when the cover is closed, horizontally spacedbrackets supported on said cover in a position where said cover riblimits downward movement, and clips carried by each bracket in aposition to removably support an item adjacent a wall of the box, eachclip being U-shaped and having an upper end connected to a bracket andhaving a portion extending downwardly in front of the main body portionof the lunch box and then upwardly, there being tie bar means adjustablyconnecting the lower portions of the clips to each other.

1. In combination with a lunch box having an upright wall and having amovable cover, said box being of a type wherein its main body has anupper edge rib and wherein the cover has a lower edge rib interfittingwith the rib of the body when the cover is closed, horizontally spacedbrackets supported on said cover in a position where said cover riblimits downward movement, and clips carried by each bracket in aposition to removably support an item adjacent a wall of the box, eachbracket being L-shaped and including a flange fitting around an uprightcorner of the cover, with each bracket being seated on the cover rib. 2.In combination with a lunch box having an upright wall and having amovable cover, said box being of a type wherein its main body has anupper edge rib and wherein the cover has a lower edge rib interfittingwith the rib of the body when the cover is closed, bracket meanssupported on said cover in a position where said cover rib limitsdownward movement, clip means carried by said bracket means in aposition to removably support an item adjacent a wall of the box, andstrap means detachably connecting the bracket means to said cover.
 3. Incombination with a lunch box having an upright wall and having a movablecover, said box being of a type wherein its main body has an upper edgerib and wherein the cover has a lower edge rib interfitting with the ribof the body when the cover is closed, horizontally spaced bracketssupported on said cover in a position where said cover rib limitsdownward movement, and clips carried by each bracket in a position toremovably support an item adjacent a wall of the box, each brackethaving a horizontal slot and there being strap means extending throughsaid slots detachably connecting the brackets to the cover.
 4. Acombination as claimed in claim 2 in which the cover of the lunch box istapered upwardly and in which the strap means fits removably over saidtaper to a position above the cover rib.
 5. In combination with a lunchbox having an upright wall and having a movable cover, said box being ofa type wherein its main body has an upper edge rib and wherein the coverhas a lower edge rib interfitting with the rib of the body when thecover is closed, horizontally spaced brackets supported on said cover ina position where said cover rib limits downward movement, and clipscarried by each bracket in a position to removably support an itemadjacent a wall of the box, each clip being U-shaped and having an upperend connected to a bracket and having a portion extending downwardly infront of the main body portion of the lunch box and then upwardly, therebeing tie bar means adjustably connecting the lower portions of theclips to each other.